This is the letter that Mr. White wrote before his death about his three books for children:
Dear Reader:
I receive many letters from children and can't answer them all -- there wouldn't be time enough in a day. That is why I am sending you this printed reply to your letter. I'll try to answer some of the questions that are commonly asked.
Where did I get the idea for Stuart Little and for Charlotte's Web? Well, many years ago I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a mouse. That's how the story of Stuart Little got started.
As for Charlotte's Web, I like animals and my barn（谷仓） is a very pleasant place to be, at all hours. One day when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was doomed to die. This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save a pig's life. I had been watching a big grey spider at her work and was impressed by how clever she was at weaving. Gradually I worked the spider into the story that you know, a story of friendship and salvation（拯救） on a farm. Three years after I started writing it, it was published. (I am not a fast worker, as you can see.)
Sometimes I'm asked how old I was when I started to write, and what made me want to write. I started early -- as soon as I could spell. In fact, I can't remember any time in my life when I wasn't busy writing. I don't know what caused me to do it, or why I enjoyed it, but I think children often find pleasure and satisfaction is trying to set their thoughts down on paper, either in words or in pictures. I was no good at drawing, so I used words instead. As I grew older, I found that writing can be a way of earning a living.
Some of my readers want me to visit their school. Some want me to send a picture, or an autograph, or a book. And some ask questions about my family and my animals and my pets. Much as I'd like to, I can't go visiting. I can't send books, either -- you can find them in a bookstore or a library. Many children assume that a writer owns (or even makes) his own books. This is not true -- books are made by the publisher. If a writer wants a copy, he must buy it. That's why I can't send books. And I do not send autographs（亲笔签名，手稿） -- I leave that to the movie stars. I live most of the year in the country, in New England. From our windows we can look out at the sea and the mountains. I live near my married son and three grandchildren.
Are my stories true, you ask? No, they are imaginary tales, containing fantastic characters and events. In real life, a family doesn't have a child who looks like a mouse; in real life, a spider doesn't spin words in her web. In real life, a swan doesn't blow a trumpet（喇叭，小号） . But real life is only one kind of life -- there is also the life of the imagination. And although my stories are imaginary, I like to think that there is some truth in them, too -- truth about the way people and animals feel and think and act.
Yours sincerely,
E.B. WhiteWhat does the author do?
| A． a writer | B．a reporter | C．a doctor | D．a teacher |
What caused the author start to write?
| A．His parents’ encuoragement |
| B．His talent in writing |
| C．Not mentioned in the passage |
| D．A writer in the early time |
Why does the author think he can’t seng his autographs?
| A．Because he thinks it should be dong by movie stars. |
| B．Because he thinks his writing is not good enough |
| C．Because he has no much time |
| D．Because he hates writing |
How long had the author been writing the story of Chariotte’s web?
| A．3 minths | B．2 years | C．3 years | D．5 years |
On April 24th, another natural disaster-the oil spill（泄露）in the Gulf of Mexico, happened. Millions of dollars have been used to help stop the spill and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil. Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea.
But governments seem to accept the risk of transporting mil-lions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage. Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run.
Of all of today's environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious. Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material. In the end, it breaks down naturally. In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120，000 tons of oil into the ocean. If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened.
However, we should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil. Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power, electricity, hydro-gen, and so on. Much of this research, in the past, was stopped by the oil, gas, and coal.
If the world's millions of cars were 10% more efficient （高效的），we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year. If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too.What is the passage mainly talking about?
| A．Oil spills pollution. |
| B．What oil pollution is. |
| C．Oil tanker accidents. |
| D．How to reduce oil pollution. |
How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?
| A．By giving a description. |
| B．By making an argument. |
| C．By giving an example. |
| D．By drawing a diagram（图表）. |
Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tankers according to the passage?
| A．We should build safer tankers in the near future. |
| B．We should develop new technologies to cut oil use. |
| C．Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines. |
| D．Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea. |
Where can you read this article?
| A．In a story book. | B．In a science magazine. |
| C．In a novel. | D．In a brochure. |
Without proper planning, tourism can cause problems. For ex-ample, too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants of a country. If tourists create too much traffic, the inhabitants become annoyed and unhappy. They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely. They forget how much tourism can help the country's economy. It is important to think about the people of a destination country and how tourism affects them. Tourism should help a country keep the customs and beauty that attract tourists. Tourism should also advance the wealth and happiness of local inhabitants.
Too much tourism can be a problem. If tourism grows too quickly, people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry. This means that other parts of the country's economy can suffer.
On the other hand, if there is not enough tourism, people can lose jobs. Businesses can also lose money. It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports, air terminals, first-class roads, and other support facilities （配套设施）needed by tourist attractions. For example, a major international class tourism hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build. If this room is not used most of the time, the owners of the hotel lose money.
Building a hotel is just a beginning. There must be many sup-port facilities as well, including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers to handle waste, and water. All of these support facilities cost money. If they are not used because there are not enough tourists, jobs and money are lost.Which of the following do you think has been discussed in the part before this selection?
| A．It is extremely important to develop tourism. |
| B．Building roads and hotels is essential. |
| C．Support facilities are highly necessary. |
| D．Planning is of great importance to tourism. |
The underlined word " inhabitants "（in Paragraph 1） probably means __________.
| A．tourists | B．passengers |
| C．population | D．citizens |
Too much tourism can cause all these problems EXCEPT __________.
| A．a bad effect on other industries |
| B．a change of tourists' customs |
| C．over-crowdedness of places of interest |
| D．pressure on traffic |
The author thinks it is good for local people to know that tourism will __________.
| A．waste a lot of money |
| B．weaken their economy |
| C．help establish their customs |
| D．help improve their life |
Parents have to do much less for their children today than they used to do, and home has become much less of a workshop. Clothes can be bought ready made; washing can go to the laundry; food can be bought-cooked, canned or preserved; bread is baked and delivered by the baker; milk arrives on the doorstep; meats can be had at the restaurant, the work's canteen, and the school dining-room.
It is unusual now for a father to pursue his trade or other employment at home, and his children rarely, if ever, see him at his place of work. Boys are therefore seldom trained to follow their father's occupation, and in many towns they have a fairly wide choice of employment and so do girls. The young wage-earner often earns good money, and soon acquires a feeling of economic independence. In textile areas it has long been customary for mothers to go out to work, but this practice has become so widespread that the working mother is now a not unusual factor in a child's home life, the number of married women in employment having more than doubled in the last twenty-five years. With mother earning and his older children drawing substantial wages father is seldom the dominant figure that he still was at the beginning of the century. When mother works, economic advantages accrue, but children lose some-thing of great value if mother's employment prevents her from being home to greet them when they return from school.The writer mentions home as workshop because __________.
| A．fathers often pursue employment at home |
| B．parents had to make food and necessity themselves for their daily-life |
| C．many families produce goods at home for sale |
| D．both fathers and mothers and mothers in most families are workers |
The writer says that home has become much less of a workshop. He means __________.
| A．in the past, home was more like a workshop |
| B．home is much more of a workshop now |
| C．home-workshops are becoming fewer and fewer |
| D．home was less like a workshop in the past |
The chief reason that boys are seldom trained to follow their father's occupation is __________.
| A．that children nowadays rarely see their fathers at their place of work |
| B．that fathers do not like to pursue employment at home any more |
| C．that there is a wide choice of employment for children |
| D．that children also like to have jobs outside |
People in the United States honor their parents with two special days： Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June.
Mother's Day was proclaimed a day for national observance by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. Ann Jarvis from Grafton, West Virginia, had started the idea to have a day to honor mothers. She was the one who chose the second Sunday in May and also began the custom of wearing a carnation.
In 1909，Mrs. Dodd from Spokane, Washington, thought of the idea of a day to honor fathers. She wanted to honor her own father, William Smart. After her mother died, he had the responsibility of raising a family of five sons and a daughter. In 1910，the first Father's Day was observed in Spokane. Senator Margaret Chase Smith helped to established Father's Day as a national commemorative day, in 1972.
These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother's Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery. On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father's Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.According to the passage, which of the following about the second Sunday in May is not true?
| A．It is a day to show love to mothers. |
| B．It is a day to wear carnations. |
| C．It is a day for people to visit the cemetery. |
| D．It is a day for many people to attend religious services. |
Choose the right time order of the following events.
a. The first Father's Day was observed.
b. Mother's Day was proclaimed a day for national observance.
c. Father's Day became a day for national observance.
d. The idea of honoring fathers was brought up.
| A．a b c d | B．d a b c |
| C．b a c d | D．d a c b |
Who plays the most important role in Father's Day becoming a national commemorative day?
| A．Mrs. Dodd. | B．Margaret Chase Smith. |
| C．Ann Jarvis. | D．Woodrow Wilson. |
The author's purpose of writing this passage is to __________.
| A．call on people to love and respect their parents |
| B．introduce Mother's Day and Father's Day |
| C．tell the difference between Mother's Day and Father's Day |
| D．show how important fathers and mothers are |
Are you carrying too much on your back at school? You're not alone. Back experts in the USA were worried that young students are having back and neck problems because they are carrying too much in their backpacks （schoolbags）.
"It hurts my back when I run，" said Beeline Reyes, a student in Virginia. "It's hard to get up the stairs with my backpack because it's too heavy. "
Students have to carry heavy backpacks on their backs for a whole week's study. Beeline is one of them. They have regular back-packs with two straps （带子）to carry them, but a number of students with heavy loads have switched to rolling backpacks. The backpacks have wheels and can roll on the ground.
Shirley Park's backpack weighs 10 kilos, and she said，"I'll change to a rolling backpack because I am starting to have back pain. "
How much is too much? Experts say that students should carry no more than 10 to 15 percent of their own body weight. A few students have had a good idea to lighten the load ： Less homework.
Doctor's suggestions ：
•Lighten the load. Take home only the books the students need that night.
•Wide straps are better. They can send out weight over your shoulders and be sure to wear backpacks with two straps.
•The heaviest things should be packed closest to the back.
•Bend （弯曲）both knees when you pick up the pack, don't just bend the waist（腰）.The main idea of the text is __________.
| A．the problems made by rolling backpacks |
| B．the goodness of backpacks |
| C．the best backpacks for students |
| D．how to make students' backpacks light |
From what Eglin Reyes and Shirley Park said, we know __________.
| A．students have to carry heavy backpacks |
| B．students have to do homework |
| C．backpacks with wheels are bad for students |
| D．students have no time to play because of homework |
By the words of the experts, it's better for a student of 40 kilos to carry a backpack of at most __________.
| A．10 kilos | B．8 kilos |
| C．6 kilos | D．7 kilos |
If students follow the doctor's suggestions, they __________.
| A．may do less homework |
| B．may feel their backpacks are lighter |
| C．can learn how to enjoy them |
| D．will know how to use backpacks |